Biodiversity & the Built Environment

Ecological Design Capability

Integration of biodiversity into the built environment is an important part of sustainable design. Planning policy directs planning authorities to expect biodiversity benefits from developments. Where space is at a premium the fabric of the built environment itself can be used to deliver cost-effective gains for biodiversity.

Our team has an unusual blend of backgrounds, ranging from high-profile academic research to managing urban nature reserves to creating new habitats in a wide variety of challenging settings. Our experience in habitat design, creation and management, and our knowledge of key species requirements, means we can offer clients a tailored approach according to budget and design constraints.

Consultancy Services

We work on a wide range of development types from residential, commercial to industrial. Our services include:

Ecological design advice for biodiverse roofs

We provide detailed ecological design advice for green and brown roofs. We were instrumental in the design and creation of two landmark projects: a large, species-rich, calcareous grassland roof on a visitor centre in Derbyshire, and a biodiverse brown roof on the Woolwich Arsenal building in London. The Woolwich Arsenal roof, one of the largest in the capital, secured BSG Ecology the Biodiversity Award at the Sustain Magazine Awards 2010. We continue to invest resources into monitoring the development of these roofs – the data gathered will be used to inform evolutionary design measures for future projects.

Designing sustainable drainage systems for biodiversity gain

We provide advice on the ecological design of features within sustainable drainage systems as part of our input to environmental impact assessments and masterplanning projects.

BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes Ecology Assessments

Assessment under BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH) is a requirement of many developments and we are working throughout the UK on many BREEAM and CfSH schemes for the public and private sectors. Our senior staff are suitably qualified ecologists for BREEAM and CfSH assessments and are members of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM).

Project examples and professional references can be provided on request.

On 4 February 2015 BSG Ecologists Jim Fairclough and Hannah Bilston delivered a half day seminar on Protected Species[1] to The Parks Trust[2], the independent charity that owns and cares for many of the parks and green spaces in Milton Keynes. This green space adds up to approximately 5,000 acres of river valleys, woodlands, lakesides, parks and landscaped areas alongside the main roads – about 25 percent of the new city area.